David Greene submits:
With the announcement after yesterday’s market close that Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) is buying Facet Biotech Corp. (NASDAQ:FACT) for approximately $450 million in cash or $27/share – a nice 67% premium to yesterday’s closing market price – the focus will be on other potential targets for acquisition. Abbott said the Facet Biotech acquisition expands the company’s access in immunology and oncology. The compounds include daclizumab that is expected to move into Phase III development in the second quarter 2010 to treat multiple sclerosis (MS).
But there are more companies with promising drugs under development which could attract generous valuations by other Big Pharma’s. Cancer Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CTIC) recently announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a third-party manufacturing site for the production of the company’s experimental cancer drug. CTIC’s drug, Pixantrone, is being reviewed by the FDA as a potential therapeutic for aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that has not responded to other approved therapies or if the lymphoma returned after initially appearing to be responding to other therapies. The FDA had expressed concerns on the efficacy and safety of Pixatrone in early February, prompting a sharp selloff in CTIC stock which is just recently rebounding from.
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Dean Morel submits:
Safety Insurance Group Inc. (SAFT) the second largest private passenger insurer in Massachusetts, reported Q4 2009 earnings in-line with analysts expectations of $0.93 (see conference call transcript here).
The results are better than a quick glance conveys as the headline numbers appear disappointing due to the one off settlement with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office. Price to book is still under one, but has narrowed to 0.94. Earnings improvement YoY continues to suggest stabilization of business, though analysts are still predicting YoY earnings deterioration. 1.3M shares bought back at around the lows of the year.
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Elliott R. Morss submits:
Introduction
I am struck by how the investment pundits can generate new recommendations on a daily/weekly basis. Except at times of panic like the collapse of Western banks in late-2008, economic conditions change slowly.
And good economic thinking is rare. For example, in a recent posting, the best economic advice I could think of for what governments should do in today’s global recession was contained in a letter from John Maynard Keynes to FDR in 1938.
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In line with our theme to identify bargains based on a set of criteria, we have come across Soko Fitness (SOKF.OB), a leading operator of fitness clubs and spas in Northeast China.
Data Ended 3/8/2010
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Investing, Long Term Investment, stock market | admin March 10, 2010 | 
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